It is common in the medical field to introduce treatment substances, such as blood, saline solution, chemotherapy or other drugs into a patient by intravenous infusion methods. These methods generally involve the sterile insertion of a needle or catheter into a vein at a chosen access site and thereafter introducing the treatment substance from a sealed, sterile source into the vein through the needle or catheter.
For example, to insert the catheter, a suitable access site is selected and the skin is cleansed, as by rubbing with isopropyl alcohol, and a needle is first inserted into a vein adjacent the site. The catheter is then threaded through the needle and the needle removed. Alternatively, a catheter having a built in hub and needle cannula may be used, wherein only the cannula penetrates the skin.
The catheter is typically immobilized to reduce damage to the vein and the skin adjacent the access site, avoid unintended displacement of the catheter and to reduce patient discomfort. To avoid bacterial buildup and possible infection, dressings are placed over the catheter insertion site and changed on a frequent basis.
A problem often encountered during the initial installation of the catheter and during changing of the dressing involves the immobilization of the catheter or needle. Normally, the step of dressing the site involves placing an absorbent bandage or gauze pad over the site and securing the gauze in place with waterproof tape. In addition, the tape also helps immobilize the catheter to prevent damage to the site and to reduce patient discomfort. This typically involves surrounding at least a portion of the catheter with tape and attaching the tape to the gauze pad or skin on opposite sides of the catheter. To improve the fit of the tape to the catheter, the tape may be trimmed to an appropriate size during the dressing change and may also be cut with scissors to shape the tape for receiving the catheter.
Case-by-case adaptation of tape and bandages complicates the dressing change procedure and also introduces a possible source of infection, since the tape is usually not sterile and, even if initially sterile, the tape may become contaminated during handling, especially if cut with unsterilized scissors. Changing of the dressing using such methods is therefore often time consuming and difficult to accomplish, since the tape is usually cut on site. In addition, the skill of the medical personnel who apply or change the dressing impacts the quality, sterility and effectiveness of the dressing change, particularly if the tape is cut to fit the catheter.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sterile system and method for dressing vascular access sites.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for dressing vascular access sites which helps avoid patient discomfort and infection.
It is another object of the invention to provide a system and method of the character described which helps to improve the uniformity of site dressings and lessens the time and skill required to effectively dress a vascular access site in a sterile manner.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a system of the character described which is cost effective and easy to use.